Why does eating fish seem less heavy than meat

Question

Eating fish always seems easier on the stomach than eating a piece of meat cooked/served a similar way (ex: just grilled). Biologically why is fish easier to digest than say chicken or red meat?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Because fish is much less dense than meat, and the proteins/fat are not nearly as tough because water is much easier to move around in. Water content in fish is also muuuuuch higher in fish.

Answer 2

Fish is up to about 10% fat vs 30% for meat. Also fish has lots of unsaturated fats such as Omega3/6/9 which is considered healthy vs saturated fats from meat.

Answer 3

So not only is fish easier to digest just because of the muscle/protein structures, even salmon one of the fattiest fish normally available has 472 calories from an 8oz portion. A ribeye would be 660 calories, and chicken breast would be 374 calories.

But also note an 8oz piece of salmon is huge, and an 8oz ribeye is almost considered a “small” steak. The muscle density is completely different.

Answer 4

I’ll try to ELI5 the best I can.

Imagine you have two kinds of toys: one is made of light, squishy foam, and the other is made of heavy, chunky blocks. Eating fish is like playing with the foam toys—it’s lighter and easier to handle. Fish muscles are different from those of land animals because fish don’t spend their lives fighting against gravity. This makes their muscles and the white layers between them much more delicate. Plus, fish store their fat as oils within their muscles and organs, while land animals have fat as thicker tissue.

Fish move their whole bodies from side to side to swim, so their muscles are more uniform, like a smooth piece of fabric. Land animals, like cows and pigs, have to deal with gravity and need a bunch of different muscles for all sorts of movements, making their meat less uniform and tougher.

So, when you eat fish, it’s like eating something made of light foam, while eating meat is like munching on those heavy blocks. Your tummy finds it easier to break down the light foam (fish) and it doesn’t sit as heavily as the chunky blocks (meat). That’s why fish feels less heavy than meat!